Angels Chronicles: The Final Angel
by Ayame-chan
Summary: Alexander Leonhart, son of the famed commander and sorceress. A sorcerer, a killer, a friend. And now his existence is about to get erased...forever. Sequel to Angels. R&R! [discontinued]
1. Default Chapter

Angel Chronicles: The Final Angel

Yes, it is the long awaited (well...not very long ^_^) sequel to Angels, folks! Since Alex is basically the only active Leonhart around (Sakura decided to adopt a normal life by my magic wand), this *hopefully* short sequel will mainly revolve around him and the troubles that he has to face in the past. Five years has passed in both times, so don't be surprised that you find Seifer the Commander of Garden or something like that. 

Some of you asked me if everyone will meet everybody else again. My answer: Yes and No. SOME of the characters in Angels will return in this sequel and get to reunite with the FF8 cast. 

Others also told me that you were a bit confused as to who's who, so I'll just clear it up right now since the way I write do seem confusing to others and makes sense in my wacky mind ^_^.

Squall and Rinoa have four children in total: Luna, Phoenix (who're twins, by the way), Sakura, and Alex.

Quistis and Seifer have only one child which is Lily. Lily would've had a younger brother or sister if Allundia hadn't come in *hinthint*

Gene and Megan (Gene's younger sister from the earlier chapters of Angels) currently don't belong to anyone. I have an idea in mind to who they are descendants to, but I'm not really sure if I want to use it, ya know?

Sakura Wolfe's history will be explained in this fic. Yes, she will play a larger role in here, 'specially since she's a bit older ^_^.

Kenji is the son of a former sorceress. That's all you know. Now, somebody suggested or guessed (Yeti, I think ^_^) that he's Edea and Cid's illegitimate son. Well, that IS a possiblity because I think that the married couple wanted children which is why they got that whole orphanage thing and all of a sudden *poof* they finally have a child of their own. However, there will be another choice in this fic (no, I won't tell you because it'll spoil the fun of guessing!) and then you, yes YOU, will get to decide where Kenji's origins are from.

Atamos is the boss of the Organization (I know, with the creative mind I have, I can't think of a name for an underground society) of Esthar. He's a lot older than he looks and nobody knows how exactly he came to be with the exception of a few hints in Chapter 15 of Angels. 

Well, that's about it! Hope this clears up everything. If not, just e-mail me at: rinoakt8@squaresoftrules.com and I'll try to clear up some more questions that you may have.

The usual disclaimers for the sequel apply and just to warn you that the movie and book series _The Lord of the Rings _ was a big inspiration to the creation of the sequel. Enjoy!!


	2. The Legacy of Shion Treist

Chapter One ~ The Legacy of Shion Treist

Out lurking in the shadows of Esthar's once peaceful streets, there was an assassin who chilled the minds of the strong hearted. He would ruthlessly kill his prey in one strike without even allowing them to scream. All that the poor victims would see was a blur.

Most of these victims were top government officials or renown nobels. These men and women were found to be corrupted in drug scandals, plots to assassinate the current President of Esthar, President Saiyuki Lockheart, and gain the position, ideas of machines that would devestate the entire world, and the like. The common people found this assassin a hero to their cause while the government condemned the person, man or woman, resposible and sent out a billion gil reward for the assassin's capture, dead or alive. The only problem was, nobody knew what the assassin looked like. All they knew was it's name: Shion Treist.

Shion Treist was described as a man of supernatural abilities. He had the eyes of a lion, a stare that would literally freeze someone down to the bone, anda fighting style too fast for the human eye to see. Some said that he was a bury man in his late forties while others said he was a lean yet muscular man just in his teens. One couldn't believe from the other except for those who have sworn to keep his identity secret. He would be just a legend waiting to be revealed.

The young man called Shion Treist was actually the exact opposite from what he was described as. Actually, Shion Treist wasn't even his real name. It was Alexander Leonhart, the boy who defeated Sorceress Ultimecia five years before and who had suppossedly disappeared from society itself soon afterwards. Everyone who knew him just called him Alex: a carefree, easy-going young man who wanted to protect the peace and was willing to be punished in place of others.

When Atamos offered Alex a job as a member of the Organization, he gladly accepted much to his sister's protests. He first drew blood at the age of twelve, the age when he defeated Ultimecia. Now at the age of seventeen, Alex has killed many, but for the righteous cause of protecting the people. He gradually corrected the Estharian government's ways through his pseudoname, but he also paid the price for it by becoming the most wanted man with a billion gil price for his head. Atamos switched Alex's job from being an underground assassin to a weapons specialist after those five years and Alex changed his name back to his real one again.

Everything seemed to be going fairly smoothly until his own past starts to return...

* * *

AUTHORESS NOTES: Short and sweet lil' intro, ne? Don't worry, though, the real plot is about to begin. R&R!! 


	3. Returning to the Past

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Aiya!! Sorry, Yati! ::grins a bit sheepishly:: No, no, no, I didn't mean you. There's this one person that e-mailed me and well...I forgot his/her name and er...I was trying to find that person and ah...er...well...mistake!! I didn't really mean to point you out ^_^. Very, very, sorry. Please forgive me if you will!!

Anyway, this will be your typical chapter from me, not the little one page thingie that I wrote in the last chapter. Hope you like it!! Oh, and sorry for the long delay. Damn FFX....I need to finish it!! 

Chapter Two ~ Returning to the Past

"Damn, where the hell is he?" a honey blonde woman with piercing green eyes asked.

A young teenager around the age of fourteen was sitting on top of a table and was playing Triple Triad with a pale yellow, stuffed-animal like creature. Not a single bit of her showed that she had a figure, but maybe it was because of her oversized and baggy clothing that she had on.

"Maybe he's still sleeping, Lily," the teen said.

"We're going to meet with Atamos in half an hour and he's still sleeping?" Lily asked incredulously.

A young man next to her had to stifle a laugh, but Lily's sharp ears heard it.

"What in Hyne's name were you two doing last night, Kirean?"

Kirean was a young man about seventeen with midnight black hair that was tied back in a short ponytail and chocolate brown eyes. A gunblade was strapped on his side.

"We didn't do anything wrong!" Kirean tried to explain. "All me and Alex did was go out for a drink and ---"

"And beat the crap out of everybody who was fighting like some Hyne forbidden bouncers at a club," a young boy around ten finished.

"Hey, Sion, you weren't supposed to tell!" Kirean exclaimed.

The young teen playing Triple Triad began to giggle hysterically. Kirean turned to her with a puppy dog look on his face. "Sakura, you too?"

"Hey, is it MY fault that I warned you and Alex to not get drunk, brother?" Sakura asked. 

With the exception of Lily, the small group burst out in laughter. Kirean sullenly sat back down in his seat, defeated. "Damn, the whole world is against me..."

Lily was shaking her head. "Hyne, WHY did Atamos have to put me and Kenji in charge of you five?"

The young woman by the door looked at Lily in concern. "Do you want me to get him, Lily?"

"Yeah, sure, Yukie," Lily replied. "Just make sure you two don't goof around and get us even later as is."

Knowing what she had meant, Yukie blushed a faint pink before leaving the room. Kenji chuckled inwardly to himself, standing in a dark corner as he watched Yukie leave. She was the newest member of their little "family", a young but very wealthy heir to a nobel Esthari family. She was also to be guarded by Alex especially due to her origin as a summoner. Sorceresses and summoners were rare to find nowadays, and Atamos made sure that Yukie was well-guarded, specifically from her own family who were out to kill her. 

Soon after the Civil War in Esthar, the use of GFs and magic were banned from the country altogether due to the incredible destruction that it had on slowly recuperating city. Those who have used magic or were sorceresses were either exiled from the continent to areas like Dollet Kingdom and Timber or exterminated by the so-called "anti-magic" police. Even the words were forbidden to be mentioned or else death would be the price.

_Things have changed so much after these past five years..._he thought.

"Hey, Kenji!" Sion shouted.

Kenji's emerald eyes looked down at the boy, eyebrow arched curiously. After Phoenix's "death" five years ago, he had distanced himself away from society. He only spoke when he had to and to those that he was close to. Sion was no exception (he joined the Organization only a year earlier), but somehow the boy would get words out of Kenji.

"Do you have any idea why Atamos is calling us?" Sion asked as he looked around the room. "I mean, I guess it's for a joint mission, but nothing big has been going on nowadays."

"He probably wants us to do something that is not in this time," Kenji replied.

This statement stunned everybody to silence and they all looked at him strangely.

"What do you mean by that, Kenji?" Kirean asked.

He didn't reply, but Lily's eyes narrowed. Although she was long dead, Lily knew that Phoenix and Kenji still had a connection between each other. She also knew that Phoenix was linked with all time zones in Griever's realm. _What's going on?_

Yukie knocked on the door, blowing back a wisp of light blue hair from her eyes. Although she was Esthari, she didn't really look much like one if it wasn't for her odd shade of eyes which were aqua with a tint of amber inside. The amber appeared on her sixteenth birthday a year ago, the day when she was confirmed to be a summoner.

"Hey, Alex, are you awake? We've got to meet Atamos soon, you know," she said to the metal door.

When there was no answer, Yukie knocked on the door again except a bit more loudly. "Alex?"

Again, there was no answer. Yukie knew that there wasn't that much time left.

"Okay, just make sure you're changed because I'm coming in!" 

She punched in the unlock code to his room and the metallic door slid open. There was total darkness in the room as she entered, so she flipped the light on. In the small room, movement stirred. Alex had put a pillow over his head and shifted to face the wall, a mop of black peeking underneath. Yukie sighed, resisting to smile at the sight of him.

"You're still asleep?" she asked.

"...Damn Kirean took me out for a drink last night and we turned out to be the bouncers," she heard him say in a muffled voice. "Didn't come back until four this morning."

"We're meeting Atamos in fifteen minutes, you know," Yukie said casually as she made her way to his bed.

Alex turned around, and Yukie could see an amber eye glowing underneath the pillow. The way how Alex's eyes shifted in the dark used to scare her, but now she was pretty much used to it. 

"Gimme five more minutes," Alex said.

"Well," Yukie began as she literally sat on top of him. "I'm not going to leave until you get up."

Alex looked at her straight in the eye for a minute, contemplating what to do. He was exhausted, weary, and a bit nauseous from the slight hangover that he had. Looking into her eyes for a moment, though, Alex could tell that she was being serious. He smiled as a very clever idea crossed his mind.

"You're not going to get off of me, are you?" he asked, slowly taking the pillow away.

Yukie leaned forward until their faces were barely touching. Her light blue hair brushed across his face and shoulders in gentle curls.

"Do I look like I'm going to get off?" she asked, smiling a bit deviously.

"Hmm...I guess not..." he slowly replied, "...unless..."

In one quick movement, Alex flipped himself over so that he ended up on top of Yukie. She yelped in surprise at first, but then started laughing for no apparent reason.

"Hey, that's not fair," she said as her laughter began to subside.

"Well, not everything in life is fair, right?" Alex asked, grinning. His eyes had changed back to his original color of sapphire.

"No..." Yukie replied, a bit flustered as Alex was getting closer to her. She tried to act serious at him, but it was very hard to. "Are you going to get ready?"

"After this..." Alex answered as he kissed her.

It was not until a couple of minutes later when Yukie could gasp in for air.

"I'll be ready in five minutes," Alex said, kissing her on the forehead before getting up and leaving the room.

"Mmhm.." she murmured dreamily, watching him go. Her cheeks were a light pink and a small smile crept to her face. The tingling sensation of their kiss still remained.

_Agh, Yukie, it's not like he's never done this before!_ she thought, pulling the covers over herself as her smile got even bigger.

In the next room, Alex chuckled to himself as he pulled a red shirt over his tank that he had worn when he went to bed. He was so exhausted the night, or rather early morning, that he hadn't bothered to change his clothes, except for taking off his shirt because it was so hot in the damn club and the equally warm weather outside wasn't helping him. To save some time, he just wore on what he had on the night before: a red shirt and black pants. A mental twinge snapped into his head; Yukie was telling him to hurry up.

"Okay, okay, I'm ready," he said, rushing out of the room and grabbing his trenchcoat along the way.

Yukie jumped out of his bed, following and smiling at him. "I thought so."

"Couldn't you be any nicer?" he asked sarcastically.

"Nope," she answered and picked up a customized Exeter that was lying on his coffee table. "You're not going to bring your gun?"

"Huh? Oh...uh...yeah."

He wrapped his arm around her waist, taking his gun in the process, and they walked out together.

"Took you long enough," Lily muttered as the couple strode into the room.

Alex grinned back at his superior after giving a deathglare to Kirean. "Sorry, sorry. Want me to drive?"

"Booya! Five minutes to spare!" Alex proclaimed as he jumped out of the SUV (AN: For those who don't know: Sports Utility Vehicle) with the others who were straining to stand up straight.

"That's the last time he's driving," Kirean muttered, trying to focus his eyes on the tire marks that Alex had made as he swerved into the driveway of the most elegant building in all of Esthar.

"I still feel like I'm spinning," Sakura murmured as she and her guardian Kereberos toppled out of the car.

That was when Sion lost it and ran into the bushes nearby to hurl out his breakfast. Yukie went over to comfort the young boy like an older sister.

"C'mon, let's go," Kenji said as he walked towards the building's entrance.

"How can you walk like nothing happened?" Lily muttered, clutching her head to ease the slight migraine that she was starting to get.

"Try having him fly the Ragnarok," he replied, continuing on his walk without even stopping.

"Hey, I wasn't THAT bad," Alex protested.

Atamos peered out the window, chuckling to himself at the look of the motley crew he had assembled. It wouldnt' be long until their existences would cease if they didn't work together and protect time itself.

"We shall see how well you all can solidify your relationships," he murmured to the empty space of his office, his violet eyes glowing in the semi-darkness.

He punched in a number on his phone. The person who answered didn't respond on the speakerphone.

"Sister, be ready when they arrive," he said.

"Yessir!" a young girl's voice replied happily before hanging up.

"It's so creepy in here..." Sion murmured as he and the others walked through the dark corridors of the Organization's headquarters.

"This is your first time in here, isn't it?" Kirean asked. He continued when Sion nodded. "Well, better get used to it. Although it looks fairly modern on the outside, the HQ is a mansion that was built around three hundred years ago. It had to have some minor adjustments, but it's still in pretty good shape."

"So the glass windows are just only on the outside?" Sion inquired.

"It's not just that, but even the side exits to this building are different than marked," Alex answered. "That way, if enemies ever pass through the security system, they'll never find this place's true exit."

"Oh.."

They finally reached Atamos' office after passing a couple of odd looking items and other members of the Organization. Lily was about to insert her card key when a voice from the identifier interrupted.

"The door's open," Atamos' voice said.

With a bit of hesitation, the group entered in his office, which, like the mansion, was also dark with a bit of dim light shining through a lamp nearby. Atamos was a tall shadow near the window before he turned around. Alex always thought it odd that their commander still looked the same as he did when he first met him over fifteen years ago at Angel's Orphanage. Nothing about the man changed, not even his youthful face that looked around twenty-eight.

Because of the darkness in the room, Alex's eyes had gradually shifted from his normal color. Kenji's eyes, too, had a soft glow since he did connect with the other realm from time to time. That was what the other realm did to people who travelled through it.

"What's our itinerary this time?" Kenji asked.

"There's been a slight timewave disturbance in the area around Deling," Atamos replied as he walked over toa small device that lay on his desk. He tossed it over to Alex. "I'm sure you know where that came from."

Alex examined the device carefully. "This is Grandpa's signiature engraved on his machine gun, why?"

"That piece came from Deling City, along with the rest of the gun, smashed into pieces like that," Atamos explained.

"But the gun's in..." Alex trailed off, realizing what the older man had meant.

"Exactly. Time's fluctuating again."

"Time's fluctuating?" Kirean repeated. "You mean it's starting to recompress like it did five years ago?"

"That's impossible!" Sakura exclaimed. "The only two people who're able to do that are Auntie Ellone and Ultimecia. Auntie wouldn't do something like that, and Ultimecia's dead..." Her eyes widened, "...isn't she?"

"Yes, Ultimecia is dead, Sakura," Atamos assured. "That I know of. Something else is causing the recompression of time there. And it's not just Deling. There are reports that even the most remote places like the Research Center are experiencing timewave fluctuations. I want you all to find out what's causing this."

"But how?" Lily demanded. "How can we go back into the past when there is no maching like that psycho Odine's anymore?"

"I'm sure Yukie would know," Atamos replied, glancing at the young woman.

Yukie looked down at her hands as she felt everyone's eyes boring into her. 

"Do we...have to go there?" she asked softly.

"Yes, but not just yet. If it's necessary, then you will have to go to your home, but I have an alternative," Atamos replied. "I want you all to go to Deling first. You will meet my sister there and she'll transport you back in time. Your most important objective is to regroup the entire group who fought during the Second Sorceress War: your relatives and their friends."

Lily couldn't help but say, "Oh, Hyne."

Unfazed, Atamos continued. "I'll inform you more once you have everyone in your sights. Dismissed."

"Everyone? What does he mean by 'everyone'?" Sion asked as soon as he and the others were walking out of the building.

"Geez, you weren't informed very well in the news, were you?" Kirean muttered.

"What was that?!?" It took most of Yukie's strength to hold back the boy's wrath. 

"What Atamos is talking about is all of the SeeD who helped us defeat Ultimecia in the Third Sorceress War five years ago," Sakura answered Sion's question. "They're basically our uncles and aunts, moms and dads when they were still around our age."

"So...we have to find them? That should be easy. Aren't they still at Garden?"

"No...not all," Alex replied quietly. "Since five years have passed here, five years have also passed in the past."

Everybody remained silent, knowing what Alex had meant. By reading the destroyed Gardens' files that were stashed away in hidden rooms under the ruins, the gang got a pretty good idea about the history behind the creation of Garden and SeeD as well as their dismantlement. Nothing in the future had changed so far, so nothing had changed in the past. Only four people from Balamb Garden should have left during the five year time period.

"Before we go to Deling, let's stop by at Timber first," Alex said, breaking the silence.

"Why?" Lily asked.

Alex didn't face her as they got in the car, but she noticed a very haunting and distant look in his eye. 

"...I want to visit the family grave before it disappears," he replied.

Things seemed to go fairly normally during the train ride to Timber. Kiren and Sion were bickering. Lily tried to mediate their argument but soon gave up and played a game of Triple Triad with Sakura. Kenji, of course, remained in a corner by himself, reading the newly revived _Timber Maniacs_. Alex stared out the window, watching the scenery flash by. Yukie sat next to him and did the same, but her thoughts were elsewhere. Instinct told her that there was something wrong, but she desparately tried to ignore it. After Atamos had told them that there was the possibility that something else was recompressing time, a shadow fell over her heart. Something was going to happen, and she didn't like the gut feeling one bit.

_Why do I have this feeling that something is going to happen to Alex? _she wondered to herself before inwardly sighing and resting her head on Alex's shoulder.

As if he had read her mind, Alex held her hand, their fingers intertwining in the grasp, for reassurance.

(AN: This scene will be a copy of the Epilogue in Angels...sort of)

Alex slowly walked over to the grave where the majority of his family lay in peace. His fingers lightly grazed over the words etched in the marble stone, memories from his past returning in mere glimpses as he did so.

"It's been a while," he murmured, placing the bouquet he bought on top of the tombstone. "But I've been pretty busy with missions and all, you know that."

The wind started to pick up as it always had done whenever he came to visit. He paid no mind to it and glanced down towards the ring that was solely binded to the realm where his family lay. It had been a while since Alex lost the ability to contact Griever's realm. It had started when he took up Atamos' offer of becoming an assassin during the Civil War, and he became known as Shion Treist.

"There's something odd going on in Galbadia where Grandpa Laguna used to live," he addressed to the grave. "I'm going to check it out."

"Alex!" Yukie called out. She stood a distance away, towards the home where his family once lived in. "It's time to go!"

"I'll be right there!" Alex replied, smiling back at his blue-haired angel.

Yukie smiled at him, nodding, and turned to leave. He looked back at the newly decorated grave.

"I'll be back next year, hopefully," he murmured softly to himself before turning to leave.

"Mistress, I suggest that you get some rest," a middle-aged man addressed to the chair in front of him. "You have been practicing all night."

The chair swiveled around, revealing a young girl around the age of seven. Her flaming red hair spilled across her slim shoulders, and her eyes were decorated with the color of smoke. The girl shook her head at the man.

"I am fine, Gannon," she replied. "My brother Atamos has sent me the team and they'll arrive any minute from now." The doorbell ran and the girl smiled sweetly at Gannon. "They are here. Please finalize the preparations, Gannon. I'll get the door."

Before Gannon could say anything, the girl ran off from his sight. He shook his head at her eagerness and bowed where she once was. 

"As you wish, Lady Allundia."

After a few seconds, the door swung wide in front of Alex without giving him the chance to knock. Seeing that there was nobody in front of him, he glanced down to find a girl staring up at him. He heard Lily stifle a gasp.

"Mister Treist, isn't it?" the girl asked, her smoky eyes gleaming in delight.

Alex nodded, utterly dumbfounded. The girl looked past him to stare at the others with the typical spunkiness of a little girl.

"Mister Treist's friends: Miss Almasy (Lily), Mister and Miss Wolfe (Sakura and Kirean), Mister Mushihiro (Kenji), Mister Belfor (Sion), and Miss Jeram (Yukie), yes?"

Like Alex, the others too absentmindedly nodded. The girl grinned enthusiastically as she put her hands behind her back. 

"My name's Allundia; your commander is my brother," she introduced. She gestured to the man who suddenly appeared behind her. "And this is my guardian, Gannon. Please, come in! We've been expecting you."

_How in Hyne's name can a girl younger than me talk like that? _Sion wondered to himself.

As the group entered in the 'small' mansion (according to Deling's high society it was considered small), Lily looked at Allundia in confusion.

"Allundia? But I thought---" she began to say.

"I was given a second chance," Allundia replied happily. "At least that's what he told me anyway. 

"Holy shi---" Lily was about to say, but thought the better of it.

"Mistress, the preparations have been completed," Gannon said.

"Great! Then we'll get started right away!" Allundia chirped. She was practically skipping down the hall.

"Wait a second, what are YOU supposed to do to get us to our objective?" Kirean asked out of curiousity.

"Oh, I'm transporting all of you to the past," Allundia replied rather casually.

"WHAT?!?" came the cry.

Lily eyed the straps around her body suspiciously. She and the others were in a circle and strapped to metal boards with an Onynx bangle in each while Allundia sat in the middle of their circle with a strange looking device on her head.

"How does this thing work?" she asked the girl as they, or rather she and the others, started to spin.

"To go in time, you have to travel in circles," Allundia replied. "The bangles you're wearing funnel my energy through you."

"Is this safe?" Yukie asked.

"Well, I'm ninety-nine point nine percent sure that you're going to be transported safely back in time, but I'm not sure about getting back here. You'd have to find a time portal or something like that to come back here."

"Just great..." Alex muttered.

"I'm getting dizzy..." Sion said.

"Then close your eyes because it's going to spin even faster!" Allundia advised.

"WHAT?!?"

Everyone was feeling the motion sickness as the device spun faster, including Alex. The bangles on them glowed simultaneously with the device on Allundia's head. 

"Okay, here we go!" Allundia announced.

"W-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

But it was too late.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES: So, what you think, ya? Kinda dull chapter, but I'll be getting to the action soon enough! Please R&R!!

COMING SOON....Chapter Three ~ A New Threat

"Okay, um, here's the key," Rinoa replied, handing over the key to the blonde woman. "If you need any help with anything, just find me or my husband and we'll try to help you."

"Thank you very much," the blonde replied. She linked her arm with the man next to her. "I'm already falling in love with this place, aren't you, honey?"

The man laughed heartfully, his emerald eyes sparkling. "Yes, it's a lovely place."

"I'll see you girls tomorrow at the bar, right?" Rinoa asked the two girls behind the couple. 

The blue-haired one nodded cheerfully. "Of course, Mrs. Leonhart. We won't forget, aren't we Sakura?" 

The girl next to her nodded. Rinoa smiled. "Alright, I hope you all like it here in Winhill. And thank you very much for helping Squall out at the weapon shop, Kirean."

Kirean scratched the back of his head. "Aw, it's no problem, Mrs. Leonhart."

The hunched old man next to him whacked him in the knee. As Rinoa left, the "family" quickly went inside and shut the door. Yukie whispered in the old man's ear.

"Okay, Alex, you can breath, now."


	4. Winhill Encounters

AN: Sorry for the long delay. Lack of inspiration, AnimeExpo2002, Final Fantasy X, and a lot of other things were happening. Not only that, I'm glad that school's out for the summer ^^. Anyhoo, thanks to Eria for some inspiration! ^^ Anyhoo, on with the story!

Chapter Three ~ Winhill Encounters

_Thunk._

In a dark alleyway of Deling City was a flash of light. An instant later, piles of bodies appeared on top of another, desperate to flee from whatever fear that had possessed them.

"Kirean, where the hell is your hand at?" Lily growled.

"Uh...I didn't mean to, Lily, it's just..." he tried to plead his case.

"Whoever's ass is in front of my face, would you please move?" Sion grumbled.

"Well, I would if _somebody_ would get off of me, first," Sakura replied.

"Oh, heh."

"Okay, that's it!" Alex shouted from the bottom of the pile. His eye shifted to a dark amber. "Everybody, OFF!!"

Suddenly, each person in his party were forced into the air and then gently flung into different directions of the alleyway. Well, it was gently according to Alex's standards.

"Ow," Sakura muttered. "Couldn't you be a bit nicer?"

"How much nicer can I get?" Alex asked as he and Yukie stood. "Would you want me to rather have Yukie call Quezacotl for you?" 

Knowing how the young summoner had some trouble controlling the Guardian Forces, everybody shook their heads. Lily huffed out a sigh, flipping her braid back over her shoulder.

"Okay, so where are we?"

"We should still be in Deling," Kenji replied as he readjusted his watch. The time had stopped during the transportation.

"So, what should we do now?" Kieran asked. He shook his head, correcting himself. "I mean, where should we go first? Galbadia or Winhill?"

"The Garden's a lot closer," Sakura pointed out.

"Yeah, but the security over there is hard to get through," Lily replied, frowning. "It might take a while for me to disrupt their security system since, like Balamb, it's mobile."

"But everyone's going to be suspicious of Alex," Yukie reminded them. "Since he looks a lot like his father..."

Alex remained silent.

"Seems like everywhere we go, we're going to have a lot of trouble getting what we need accomplished," Sion murmured.

"Not to mention that both places are wary of strangers," Kirean added.

Silence fell over them as they walked out of the alley. The well-dignified neighborhood they had been in was now an area of one of the poorest in Deling. Sion figured that it was the Red Light District, or part of it anyway, just by the signs displayed and hookers roaming through the streets for their night's pay. Any boy at his age would not even roam through with others older than him, but Sion had grown immune to childhood, being brought up in the ghetto of Timber.

"Let's go to Winhill first," Alex finally spoke up. Making sure that nobody would protest he added, "I can easily buy a disguise here so that way nobody will recognize me."

"You think they would let us live there?" Kirean asked.

"Although they are a bit antisocial to outsiders, I don't think my parents nor Auntie Ellone would let them complain," he replied. "Besides, I think I know where we can stay at."

"Well, here are the keys," the woman replied as she handed them to the couple. 

She eyed the family once again. It had been years since her father-in-law's home adjacent to the bar had been occupied, so she was a bit surprised that the family in front of her wanted to rent out the place. Everything surprised Rinoa Leonhart nowadays, though. Being a mother of three in less than five years since moving away from Balamb had made everything to her surprising. She adjusted her youngest daughter in her arms and smiled at the family. They were and odd bunch: full of adopted kids. The blond who clung onto her stoic husband were still very young, just a little bit younger than herself and Squall. The two reminded her of them, back in the days the year after Ultimecia's defeat.

Tagging along with the young couple were two sisters who looked nothing alike. The tomboy, the younger one she guessed, had her chocolate brown hair cut short just barely above her ears. She wore clothes that were two sizes too big for her petite frame, but it seemed as if she didn't care. The other sister was, physically, the exact opposite. She was tall and pale yet beautiful, her mysterious colored eyes hidden behind the soft curls of her long baby blue hair. Rinoa figured she was once an Esthari by her skin complexion but wasn't really sure.

Behind the sisters were the elder brother and the youngest of the family as well as what seemed to her an old man. The eldest of the family was a very energetic young man who had his little brother in a headlock. Both had midnight hair, but their eyes were of different colors: the eldest with dark brown and the youngest with light green. They acted like ordinary boys: always making a ruckus. Rinoa's twin daughters laughed as they watched them brawl.

What bothered Rinoa was the old man. He had kept his head low, graying hair peeking out of the cowboy hat, and wrapped his trenchcoat tightly around himself even though it was a beautiful seventy-seven degrees outside. It looked like the old man developed a hunched back, and hobbled considerably even with the help of the two girls. Her children kept on staring at the man curiously, even her little Sakura who was only but three months. Rinoa wondered to herself why did the old man cover himself so much.

"Oh, honey, we have our own home now!" the blonde chirped happily at her husband.

"Uh-huh..." he replied absentmindedly.

Rinoa smiled again. "Well, I hope you like it. Squall and I have kept it in good shape. If you need any help, just ask one of us."

"Oh, yes, thank you girls for offering your help at the bar," she added. "It takes off a lot of weight on my shoulders."

The two sisters giggled. "No problem, Mrs. Leonhart."

"So, what time do we arrive at the shop?" the eldest asked.

"Um, Squall opens around ten or so," Rinoa replied. "I guess you and your father should arrive at nine-thirty, Kirean."

"Thank you, Mrs. Leonhart, for letting us rent this place," the blonde said. "We've all been dreaming of staying at Winhill for once."

Rinoa laughed. "It's no problem, Lily. Actually, I was surprised that you called. The home hasn't been occupied for years." She felt a tug on the hem of her dress.

"Mommy, I'm hungry," one of the twins said, her violet streaks barely shining through the sun.

"Okay, Luna, Mommy's almost done," she assured her. She smiled once more. "Well, I better not leave them starving. I guess I'll see all of you sometime tomorrow."

Waving her good-byes, Rinoa slowly walked back to her home. The family quickly entered inside their new home, dragging inside their "luggage" as well. Making sure that the windows were closed, Yukie leaned down towards the hunched old man.

"Okay, Alex, you can breathe now," she whispered.

Alex straightened himself to his full height of six feet and odd inches, taking in a gulp of fresh air. The hat he had on slipped off of his head, and the seemingly long trenchcoat wrapped tightly around him wasn't so long anymore. The sleeves were halfway up his forearm and the length of the coat itself came up to mid calf. It looked as if the coat had been in the dryer too long and shrunk with Alex inside.

"Took you guys long enough," he grumbled as he struggled to take off the coat. "I thought I was about to die in there."

"I'm amazed that you can hold your breath that long," Lily commented. "We were talking for about an hour or so."

"I guess it's an advantage being a sorcerer," Kirean grinned.

"Whatever," Alex mumbled.

"Hey, look on the bright side," Sakura chirped. "At least you didn't get caught."

"Hardly," he replied. "You guys could see, but I felt it. My sisters were looking at me funny, right?"

"Yeah, so was your mother," Kenji agreed. "Though she tried not to."

"Maybe it's because you got o the wrong disguise," Sion suggested as he plopped himself on the couch. Mild dust accumulated as he did so. 

He coughed a bit and got off the couch. "I mean, it wasn't cold like Trabia. You looked like one of them."

"Would you rather have me to be Darkman?" Alex suggested as he finally got out of the trenchcoat and flung it on a rack nearby.

Sion didn't reply. Instead he gazed down at the pack of "luggage" that they had brought in. The "luggage" that they dragged in were all the supplies that Allundia transported soon after they had arrived in the old Deling. The supplies would give the group an advantage in technology going against whatever or whomever was responsible for the time fluctuations. Most of them were computers that Sakura needed to hack into Galbadia Garden's system and search for the people they needed to find. Although only four people had left Balamb Garden, many of the SeeD had transferred to the other two remaining Gardens. At least, that was according to the records of the destroyed Garden in their time.

The other supplies were the groups' weapons. They hadn't been able to carry them with them due to Allundia's limited magic and her ability to sometimes become distracted in her magic. The only exception was Alex who not only had his customized Exeter, but the gunblade form the other realm. He just handed in the gun, knowing that the other weapon would just remain hidden to the eyes of mortals not linked to the other realm.

"How in the hell are we going to put all this stuff together without making a racket?" Sion asked, regarding the computers.

Yukie's magic around the supplies slowly disintegrated, revealing their true forms. Kirean went over to hoist one of the machines over his shoulders.

"You're still new, kid," he answered with a sly grin on his face.

"Yeah, so? What's that gotta do with it?"

"Just help Yukie with the other stuff, Sion," Kenji replied as he and the others began to carry the other items. "And watch."

Sion turned to the summoner for help, but she just shrugged. In less than half and hour later, the entire house was clean and ready. Even all the computer installations were complete. The boy blinked once, then twice, not believing what he saw as he helped with the weapons.

"Whoa..." he murmured with awe and then turned to Yukie who hid Sakura's Triple Triad cards in a hidden drawer of the table. "Hey, Yukie, did you know that they...?"

"Well, when I was with Alex," Yukie replied and then smiled. "You forgot, huh? Everyone's been in contact with the other realm. The contact gives them something that most people don't have."

"You mean like infinite speed and stuff?" Sion suggested.

"Something like that, although it's not infinite. You were on some of the other missions before I came here, weren't you?"

"Yeah...but I rarely got to see them in action, you know? Most of the missions I've been on were mainly just infiltration and the like."

Yukie nodded in understanding, a well of sympathy growing inside for the boy. She remembered that Sion had sometimes felt left out because of his age.

"Hey, Yukie, can you hand me my gunblade?" Kirean asked as he emerged from the basement.

She threw the hefty weapon over, and Kirean caught it with ease. Looking around the room, she realized that someone was missing.

"Kirean, where's Alex?" she asked.

"Told me that he went out to get some fresh air," he replied, but shrugged. "I think he wants to see how his family's doing."

Alex took in a breath of fresh, _clean_ air as soon as he stepped outside. Although Esthar was known to be one of the cleanest cities in the entire world, it had its downsides ever since the President died. Laguna Loire was the longest President of Esthar in office, nearly forty years, before he died of natural causes. Even though he knew that his grandfather was old, Alex still missed the amiable old man.

He had never made contact with his extended family during the first twelve years of his life. It wasn't until Phoenix and Luna's "deaths" when his grandfather stepped into his life after finding out that he HAD grandkids. Part of Alex's personality came from him while the other was a mix and match between his three older sisters and their friends. Thinking about his family led Alex to Winhill's empty harbor where, with his sorcerer's ability, he could partially see his sisters and mother taking the hidden path along the ocean's cliffs. He remembered his grandfather talking about the path once; if you take it, it would lead to the other side of Winhill.

Remembering where he was, Alex stepped back in the shadows as he saw Phoenix turn her head back to the harbor. His eye glowed a dark amber as he silently watched, waiting. The young girl finally turned back to face the ocean as they turned a corner.

Alex breathed a sigh of relief, forcing his eye to shift back to its original color.

"You know, using your sorcerer abilities isn't going to help you hide," came a familiar voice from behind.

He jumped slightly, startled, and turned around. Kenji stood quietly against the side of the home with a small smile on his face. Alex breathed out a sigh of relief and released the grip on the hilt of his gunblade. The gunblade blended back into its surroundings.

"Damn, Kenji, you almost gave me a heart attack," he said.

The older man's smile widened. "Sorry...How are they? To you, I mean."

Alex glanced back at the place where his family once was. "Happy." He burst into small laughter. "Hyne, it's...WEIRD. To see them like this. I don't think I can remember a time when they were really carefree like this. Even at the orphanage, they seemed kinda..."

"Sad?" Kenji suggested.

"Something like that, I guess."

Kenji nodded in agreement as the two began walking back inside. 

"Just make sure you're not seen for the time being," he said exactly reading the young Leonhart's thoughts.

Alex looked at the ground, lost in though. "I know....Geez, I gotta hide from this entire freakin' WORLD, come to think of it. Sometimes, I wish I didn't look so much like Dad."

"We all have things that we don't want," Kenji replied in understanding.

The next day everything went out smoothly as planned. Well, as smoothly as the gang wanted it to be. Despite a few stares and some rude remarks from the locals, Yukie and Sakura managed Raine's reopened bar with few difficulties. It was now their first break of the day and the reopening of the bar came back with much success.

Sakura slumped down in her seat, blowing back a wisp of hair. She adjusted her shirt for the millionth time, being unused to tight fitting clothing and all.

"Never expected that it would be so popular," she muttered.

Yukie wiped off the last crumb of food left on the table and threw the rag into an empty wash bin nearby. She too was exhausted from the work, but whether she liked it or not did not show on her pale face.

"Well, you gotta remember that Alex's grandmother was well liked in town," she tried to reason with the younger woman. "I don't blame the townsfolk to come in and see what it looks like ever since the previous owner died three years ago."

"Still doesn't explain why it's so damn crowded," Sakura tried to point out. "Where's Sion with the food??"

"He should be back soon...you're not comfortable in the clothes you're wearing, huh?" Yukie asked.

Sakura shifted again in her seat and tried to adjust her clothing. She frowned when the clothes remained in the position it had been before.

"I hate it when they look at me like that," she explained. "The guys, you know? The looks that they give me make me want to kick their asses to make them stop looking at me."

Yukie sighed. "I know what you mean. But hey, it could be worse if Sion wasn't here..."

Kirean just stood there, gawking at the fabulous display of gunblades in front of him. Squall stared uneasily at the teenager and then turned back to Kenji.

"Are you sure he's going to be okay?" he asked the younger man. "He's been standing there for three minutes now without even blinking."

Kenji chuckled. "Yeah, he'll be fine. Once he realizes that we've disappeared, he'll snap out of it. I don't think he's ever seen so many gunblades all at once."

Squall stole another look at Kirean then shrugged and continued on his work. _The kid reminds of Irvine sometimes..._

_Damn, I never knew Alex's old man had THIS many,_ Kirean thought in awe. He peered in closer. The blades began to ingrain themselves into his eyes. He continued to stare until another thought came into his head that made him frown. _How come Alex doesn't have these? I remember he used to use one..._

A conk on the head broke him out of his reverie. He turned around to face a dead serious Kenji. The older man's eyes seemed to glow in the darkness of the room.

"Quit gawking and get to work," he said but his eyes seemed to say, "Don't blow our cover."

Kirean grinned sheepishly at the two men and immediately left the back room.

Above the hills, hidden away by an Invisible spell, Alex constantly watched over his sisters as they dashed along the flower fields of outer Winhill. It felt odd that he, the youngest of the family, would have to watch over his two oldest twin sisters and older sister who were just young children now.

**Why don't you say 'hi' to them? **said a voice in his head.

Alex frowned. _Since when did I ask for your advice, Griever?_

The ring on his finger glowed. Luckily, the girls were too far away to notice the light. Griever made himself present by growling softly at his current descendant.

**You should respect your elders, boy. I thought Laguna taught you that, **he replied a bit annoyingly.

Alex rolled his eyes. _Yeah, whatever. _He let his eyes shift to its catlike amber form so that he could see the old sorcerer face to face. His eye narrowed to meet his elder's gaze. _Unlike YOU, I don't want to screw up time as it already is, got it? Besides, I'm content at just watching them._

**They do know your are here.**

_And how do you know that?_

Griever chuckled, his voice rumbling through Alex's mind. **You are yet too young to understand, little one.**

Alex frowned again. He hated being called "young" and "little", especially after all he had been through. Hearing his thoughts, Griever growled once again. However, this time, it growled in a more amusing way. **I am not ten thousand years old for nothing. In time, you will learn why I call you that, little one.**

_Whatever, old man, _Alex replied.

It was then he suddenly realized that his twin sisters were staring right at him. He held his breath, cursing at himself and at the Guardian Force that was his ancestor.

"Are yoo okay, mister?" Luna asked him, her big ice blue eyes wide with concern.

Alex blinked once, then twice. _They can see me?_

"Yep, we can see yoo," Phoenix replied his unvoiced question. She cocked her head to the side, her black pigtails bouncing along as she did so. "Why?"

"Uh..." He was stuck in the choice of high-tailing it out of there or staying. All the while Griever chuckled in the back of his head.

"Do yoo wanna play wit us?" Luna asked, her eyes hopeful.

"Yeah, yeah, play wit us!" Phoenix exclaimed, jumping enthusiastically.

Alex allowed himself to breath and closed his eye fro a moment, dissolving the Invisible spell he had cast on himself. He thought for a moment. Being with his sisters wouldn't hurt if nobody found out, right? He decided to take the risk.

"Sure, why not," he replied to them. "But you two promise me something, kay?"

The twins nodded, oblivious that the man talking to them was their little brother who was not yet born. Alex leaned in closely, staring at them in the eye.

"Don't tell your mom or dad about me, kay?" he asked. They nodded.

"Why mister?" Phoenix asked innocently.

"Will yoo get in twouble?" Luna added.

"Ah...." he contemplated his choices. "Sorta. You see, your mommy and daddy know that the people who just moved in your grandpa Laguna's house, but they don't know that I'm here."

They nodded again. "We pwomise!"

Alex smiled and stood, letting the twins guide him over to the flower fields where their grandmother Raine lay.

Lily sat on Winhill's pier, letting the sea breeze blow against her face. Her keen eyes gazed warily at the vast ocean in front of her. She wondered to herself how her own family was doing back in Esthar, at Angels Orphanage. The memories of the forgotten childhood flashed in her mind, screaming for attention, but she ignored them. Her past did not matter. She knew she would still be a three year old tagging along with her uncles Zell and Raijin. Her father would be with her, too, of course. He had always accompanied them, making sure that she was all right.

_Those were happier times..._she thought sadly to herself.

A car whizzed by behind her, catching her attention. Lily saw Rinoa running up to the car along with the infant Leonhart girls. She eyed the car curiously. _What's an Estharian car doing in a place like this?_

She heard some amiable chatter coming from Rinoa and whoever was inside, but she was too far to actually hear what was said. Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted Alex, or rather, his gunblade on top of the item shop's roof. Her eyes narrowed as the gunblade gave out a signal which she rarely saw.

Laguna stepped out of the car, giving Rinoa a warm hug and all smiles with the girls. He picked up Phoenix and swung her around and did the same with Luna, leaving them giggling with glee.

So, it was a bit odd that the President of Esthar made a trip down to the very town that despised him. She remembered Phoenix and Luna saying to her that he rarely visited, but it was always fun. He just didn't know that Alex existed until recently. _Maybe things are starting to change._

Lily began to look back at the ocean, but a familiar voice made her sharply turn around: it was her own. She held her breath.

"Hey, Auntie Rinny!"

_Oh, Hyne..._

"Hey, Lily! How've you been?" Rinoa asked.

A spunk little blonde hopped out of the car followed by two other adults. Lily's eyes widened. They were her own parents.


	5. A New Threat

AUTHORESS NOTES: Agh!! I'm soooo sorry for delaying this chapter! Ya see, school's started again and well...you get the idea. I've basically had very **little** time to type up anything whatsoever nevertheless write on my fics. So please forgive me! Hopefully, I'll get done with the fifth chapter soon and post it up!

Since it's been a while, I'll clue you guys back in what had happened the past three chapters:

It's five years after the third Sorceress war and the defeat of Sorceress Ultimecia. Alex has decided to be a permanent member of the Organization run by Atamos while Sakura is running a semi-normal life in Esthar. Alex has changed his name to Shion Triest for confidentiality reasons since he is now a wanted criminal by the Estharian government for his actions during Esthar's civil war four years ago. Esthar's now back in piece, but he and the others discover that time is being recompressed for some odd reason and they have to find out. Going back into the past five years before, the gang stays out in Winhill to keep an eye on Alex's parents before something happens to them. 

CHARACTERS:

Alexander (Alex) Leonhart a.k.a. Shion Triest ~ The youngest of the Leonhart family who is now a 1/2 sorcerer and is in possession of Griever. [17]

Sakura Wolfe ~ One of Alex's best friends since she and her family arrived from Deling City. A tomboy at heart and a card captor (catching creatures and turning them back into cards to protect the Triple Triad game) [14]

Kirean Wolfe ~ Sakura's older brother and a gunblade specialist. He is also good friends with Alex, but played no part in the third Sorceress war five years ago. [17]

Kenji ~ Alex's older sister's (Phoenix) knight. He has been under a dramatic personality change: from being cheerful and easygoing to silent and straightforward. His background is currently unknown, but he has a connection with Griever's realm. [23]

Lilian (Lily) Almasy ~ Seifer and Quistis' only daughter. She too was once a tomboy at heart but has finally decided that she was a woman now and not the little girl she was before. However, she still is very hot tempered.[23]

Sion ~ A mysterious young boy who just recently joined the Organization. Thinks of Alex and Kirean as older brothers. [10]

Yukie Strife ~ The only daughter of a very wealthy Estharian family who has undergone the process of becoming a summoner through a family curse. Just recently joined the Organization with Alex being her knight. [17]

**Where Ayame-chan has last left you: **Alex and the others are just settling in Winhill when Laguna and Lily's family make a visit to the small village. So, yeah, on with the show!

Chapter Four ~ A New Threat

"Shit," Lily cursed to herself and quickly stood up. She watched as her father picked her other self up in a giggling fit of laughter. _Maybe they won't see me..._

**I highly doubt that, Lily,** replied a voice in her head.

**Shut up, Ifrit. You're not helping me,** Lily mentally snapped back as she briskly walked back towards her home. Her hand was right at the front door when Rinoa called out her name.

"Hey, Lily, do you want to join lunch with us?" Rinoa asked.

Hesitantly, Lily turned around with a smile plastered on her face. "Uh...no thank you, Mrs. Leonhart. I would love to, but Sion's late with lunch for the girls and I want to make sure that he didn't get lost..."

_Thanks, Alex,_ she thought, her eyes slightly glancing up at the roof.

_Don't mention it,_ Alex mentally replied and then quickly sped off before he was noticed.

Taking a deep breath, she forced her eyes to glance at her family from the past and Laguna. "...Are they your friends?" _Hyne, I'm so good at this..._

Rinoa gasped, remembering her manners. "Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot to introduce everybody..."

She gestured her free hand towards Laguna. "Lily, this is my father-in-law, Laguna Loire. And over there are my friends Quistis and Seifer Almasy and their daughter Lily. Everyone, this is Lilian Angelus. She just moved in yesterday."

"Nice to meet ya," Lily greeted them enthusiastically, glad that training in false personalities was paying off. "You can just call me Lily."

She risked a glance at each person, her eyes meeting Quistis'. _So she's Mom..._ The others replied their greetings, although she could tell that her younger self was looking at her a bit curiously. Desperate to get out of her situation, she waved at them.

"Well, I have to get food and find Sion before Sakura and Yukie starve..."

Rinoa nodded in understanding, unaware of the underlying meaning of Lily's words. "All right. We'll see you later, right?"

Lily nodded, waved once more, and entered the house. As soon as she shut the door, she heaved out a sigh of relief. _Oh thank you HYNE..._She then composed herself together and looked around the living room.

"Sion, get your ass out here before I pummel you through the roof," she threatened at the empty room.

The boy meekly peeked his head out of the kitchen with a nervous smile on his face.

"Uh, hi, Lily," he greeted in a small voice.

"Don't 'hi, Lily' me," she growled, walking towards him. "Where in Hyne's name have you been? Sakura and Yukie have been waiting for an hour and a half for you."

Sion looked at her with wide eyes. "How do you know that?"

"Alex told me," she simply replied as she entered the kitchen. "What are you doing in here?"

She noticed a chicobo sitting in an awkward position on the dining table. A small, makeshift case was wrapped around its tiny leg and a large gash was on one of its wings. It chirped in pain.

"What happened to it?" Lily asked softly as she walked to the table.

"I dunno," Sion replied as he went to the sink to wash off the blood on a washcloth. "When I was coming home with the food, I heard some chirping along the road and found the chicobo lying there. That's why I didn't bring Sakura and Yukie the food yet."

"But mother chocobos are extremely protective of their offspring," Lily said as she gently petted the chicobo's head to soothe its pain.

"Yeah, they are, I know. I found the mother a ways off the road. She was dead."

Sion wrung out the last of the water out the towel, the blood gone. He then took out a couple of greens from his pocket and broke them into smaller pieces, setting them on the towel. 

"You should've seen the corpse, Lily. No monster around here could've done whatever that mother chocobo fought against."

"I can tell from this little one's wounds," she replied as she took a closer look at the chicobo's gas. "It doesn't look like it could be done by a monster nearby. It's done by something that doesn't exist here yet."

In her head, Ifrit nodded in agreement.

the next day

"Curaga!" Sakura shouted.

A soft green light surrounded the tiny chocobo's body, healing its wounds. Then the light disappeared, leaving the chicobo wailing for food. Sakura smiled in satisfaction, gently caressing the chicobo's head.

"Hey, don't worry, it's okay," she comforted it. "I'll get you something to eat."

She rummaged through the kitchen for any food that seemed edible enough for a chocobo to eat. The greens that Sion had given it the day before were already gone by nightfall, so Sakura had to think of something to mix up. The chicobo watched its care taker curiously as Kereberos sauntered into the kitchen. 

"Ah, good morning kitchen!" she announced, but slowed her pace as she saw her guardianee rummaging through the kitchen. "Hey, Sakura, what are you doing up so early?"

"Sion and Yukie went to go look for some more greens for the chicobo to eat and woke me up to see that I could take care of it while they were gone," Sakura replied as she took out a carton of milk from the refrigerator. "Hey, do you know where the basil leaves are?"

"You'd have to ask Yukie or Lily that," the creature replied. "They run the kitchen."

Sakura plopped in front of the refrigerator, pondering. "Hmm...you're right about that. Oh, hey, there they are!"

She grabbed the bag of basil and expertly tossed it into the sink. She headed towards the sink and poured out the basil without closing the refrigerator door. The chicobo chirped in notification and Kereberos went to shut it.

"Wow, you're a smart chicobo!" Kereberos exclaimed, getting a happy response from the chick. "Hey, you can train this bird to really help you!"

"K-chan, be quiet for a minute, will you?" Sakura asked politely. "I'm trying to remember something."

"Sure thing!"

The creature hovered nearby in silence, listening to Sakura speak out her thoughts.

"Now what did Dad tell me again? After washing and cutting the leaves..."

"Have you heard from your father recently, Sakura?" Kereberos asked, agitated by the silence.

"Nope and don't care," was her curt reply, setting the pot full of basil on the stove.

Beady black eyes sparkling at the topic, Kereberos hovered next to her as she poured the milk and turned on the stove. 

"You and Kirean haven't seen him in a long time, right?"

"Yeah."

"Haven't you two ever visited him since you both moved out?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"K-chan," Sakura replied annoyingly as she stirred the contents, "why are you so interested in me 'n' Kirean not seeing Dad?"

"Well, he seemed like a nice man, from what I remember you telling me a couple of years back," Kereberos said amiably, ignoring Sakura's tone of voice. "And you two never seemed to mention him after that since you guys moved out four years ago. I've only seen him twice."

Sakura abruptly shut off the stove, letting the milky green liquid cool. She turned towards her guardian with a frown on her face.

"From what Dad told us in his letter a couple of months ago, he's in Deling City completing a mission that the government assigned him to do. And he may _seem_ nice on the outside, but he's too busy with his job to give a damn about us," she answered irritably. "Happy now?"

Kereberos decided not to respond and flew over to the chicobo to keep it company. She sometimes forgot how her guardianee had changed the past two years. The happy-go-lucky, stubborn little girl she had known hid inside the rough tomboy that was now Sakura Wolfe. Inwardly, she sighed.

The silence between them was interrupted by the opening of the kitchen back door. Squall and Kenji entered with a bundle of blankets in each of their hands.

"Oh, good morning, Kenji, Mr. Leonhart," Sakura greeted.

Despite what he had seen while he and Kenji were searching through the town, Squall managed to put on a weary smile. " 'Morning, Sakura."

"What are those bundles?" she asked.

As an answer, a chicobo each popped their heads out of the opening, chirping in mourning. The two men set the bundles on the table where the other chicobo sat. The four chicobos chirped happily at the injured one and ran to it.

"We found them all scattered about along the road where Sion told us where he found the mother," Kenji replied. "These guys were fast enough to hide. I guess our little one's reunited with its siblings."

"There was another dead chocobo nearby my home, too," Squall added. "I'm not sure if she had chicobos or not."

"I see..." Sakura murmured and then realized that Kereberos was not in the room. _She probably saw them coming. Oh well._

"Where's everyone?" Kenji asked.

"Sion and Yukie went out to find some more greens. Lily and Kirean are still sleeping," Sakura replied, detecting the hidden meaning in his words. Mentioning her brother also meant Alex's whereabouts. _Hope he doesn't come downstairs..._

outside the kitchen

Alex was already awake. He had been the earliest to wake up but remained in bed until he heard talking downstairs. Curious to see who their guest was, he got changed into some new clothes and quietly went downstairs, hiding behind the wall. All the voices sounded familiar to him. _That's Sakura, Kenji, and...DAD?!?_ He risked a peek into the kitchen, quickly turning back before Squall could see him.

_Oh man..._

**Don't worry about your father,** Griever replied. **He won't see you if you cast the spell.**

_Yeah, but that don't mean that he can **sense** me, _Alex thought. _You probably didn't see it with my eyes, but he's got **two** rings on his left hand._

Griever remained silent as if he was contemplation on an idea. Alex, however, didn't bother to wait on his elder's answer and silently exited the home through the side door.

somewhere along Winhill's borders

Two figures hovered above the gentle rolling hills of Winhill, amused to see that their precious pets were doing their job. One of the figures uttered a low, sinister cackle; blood red, pupiless eyes were gleaming in delight.

"Kakaka...humans caring for harmless, pathetic little creatures," the figure said, it's voice masculine. "Isn't it amusing, sister?"

The other figure beside him chuckled in reply. 

"Yes, it is," it replied in a soft, enticing voice. "Who would have thought that lions and dragons have weak spots for innocent chicobos?"

"It shouldn't be long now before the young lion shows his face to the pride," the first figure noted.

"You know that he senses us," the second pointed out.

"Yes, but he knows that he can't do anything to us now, my dear sister," the first smiled. "He intends to remain hidden from view as well."

"I wonder how can he accomplish both," his sister pondered.

"He can't. Not when our precious shadows attack them."

some road

Alex breathed out a sigh of relief as soon as he reached the outskirts of the secluded town. He collapsed on the cool grass, letting himself enjoy the beauty of nature for once in his life.

"Whew, too close," he said to himself.

"What was too close?" asked a familiar voice.

Alex opened his eye and stared into deep pools of aqua-amber. "Yukie?"

He slowly sat up as the young summoner stood up, smiling. Sion stood beside her with a big grin on his face. Both were holding baskets filled with mimet greens.

"Yukie? And Sion? What are you two doing here?" Alex asked.

"We were about to ask you the same question," Sion said.

"We went to go get some more greens for the chicobo," Yukie added to answer his question.

Sion laughed as he patted the basket in his hands. "Yeah, and we found a place that had a whole bunch of them! That chicobo will grow up in no time!"

Alex chuckled and with one single action was standing. He brushed back his hair with one hand, a smile on his face. "Well, then hope that it's enough for our new guests."

Yukie and Sion looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

He pointed back at their home a distance behind him. "Squall and Kenji found four more orphans and another dead chocobo mother. That's why I had to leave the house."

"But you an' Kirean were snoring like babies," Sion said.

"What, we kept you awake all night or something?" Alex asked innocently with a sly smile on his face.

"You sure did! Man, if it wasn't for the creaking floorboards, I would've been sleeping peacefully downstairs," Sion replied, submitting to a yawn. "Now I know why Kenji sleeps downstairs. I've been awake since four!"

"Guess you didn't realize that there was less noise," Alex said. "I've been up since three."

"What kept you up?" Yukie inquired.

Alex blinked a couple of times in surprise, wondering how she always seemed to know that he was hiding something from them. He began to think of a good answer.

"Um..."

Then something caught his attention from the corner of his good eye. He had first thought it was the wind tricking him, creating the strange shapes alone the tall grass. Yet when he saw the thing move _vertically _into a three dimensional object, he knew that it wasn't the wind. It was _them_.

Yukie and Sion immediately recognized Alex's piercing gaze, his eye color shifting from ice blue to amber and back again, and turned to see what he was looking at. What they saw was a black...thing blending itself into the sky and long grass before it disappeared.

"...What was that?" Yukie asked a couple of minutes later.

"Our enemy's little pawns," Alex answered, his enhanced eyesight continuing to follow the strange creature's trail. "They're feline shadows."

"Our enemy? They know we're here?!?" Sion asked incredulously.

"I sensed them this morning," Alex began to explain, closing his eye. "There's a lot of those shadows around, but they're being held back by their masters."

"Do you think that these shadows killed those chocobos?" Yukie asked softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"....They could be."

"Then we have to tell the others!" Sion exclaimed.

Alex shook his head. "We can't do anything right now. Not when Seifer and the others are here."

"But---"

"He's right, Sion," Yukie interrupted, turning to the boy. "We can't do anything about them right now unless you want to endanger now only Alex's but Lily's existence as well."

Sion remained silent for a moment and then reluctantly nodded. He didn't think it was right to keep the enemy a secret from the others, but he knew that Yukie had a point. "Okay....so...what do we do now, then?"

"Wait," Alex said, "and see what these two are really up to."

Alex's time ~ Esthar

Sakura Leonhart cheerfully hummed to herself as she prepared lunch for the remaining inhabitants of the home. She smiled absentmindedly as she thought about her little girl who was taking her morning nap. The girl was in every way an exact mirror image of herself with the exception of her eyes. Sakura's daughter had her father's eyes and every time she stared into those crimson eyes, she was constantly reminded of her punishment.

She shook her head away from those thoughts and began to methodically cut the onion into smaller pieces when she noticed that her cutting hand was transparent. She immediately dropped the knife, staring at her hand in horror.

Gene Starwind stepped out of the bathroom, wearing a terry cloth bathrobe and briskly drying his auburn hair with a towel. He and Sakura's daughter had been playing outside in the sandbox which quickly turned him into a walking sand man. When she saw the sight of them tossing buckets of sand at one another, Sakura immediately dragged the two back inside. She first gave her daughter a bath, despite the protests of the girl, and then ordered Gene to take a shower which he gratefully complied to.

He smiled to himself as he made his way to the kitchen, glad that the other surviving Leonhart was beginning to act more like herself. Seeing Sakura in so much agony when she had first found out that she was pregnant was something that Gene didn't want to see again. He hated Sakura being hurt especially after what she had gone through five years before.

"Hey, Sakura, what are you cook---" Gene was about to say, but stopped in mid sentence at what he saw.

Before his own eyes, Sakura Leonhart had faded for a mere second before returning to normal, staring at her hand in shock.

"....Sakura?" he called out softly.

She glanced up at the call of her name, staring at Gene with wide, horrified eyes.

Winhill ~ Leonhart home: five years ago

Seifer Almasy stared out of the living room window, bored as hell. Quistis, recognizing this with a keen eye, sat down next to him. She put her hand over his, squeezing it gently.

"What's wrong, dear?" she asked with a smile on her face. "Bored?"

"Hn," was his reply. "You can say that."

"What are you looking at?" she asked again.

"The grass," he replied. "It's so damn tall that it's beginning to bug me."

"Ah," Quistis said knowingly as she rested her head on his shoulder. "It's always like that."

"I know hun, but something about it bugs me. I don't remember the grass being THAT tall."

He turned to his wife, wrapping his arm around her slim waist. "How's the Pyro doing?"

"Well, she stopped throwing up and is sleeping right now. Her fever's gone down, too. I think the train ride got to her."

Seifer chuckled, shaking his head. "I'm still trying to figure out where she gets her motion sickness from. It ain't from me, that's for sure."

"To come to think of it, I remember being like her when I moved from my foster home to Garden," Quistis murmured thoughtfully. "But I got over it after we began training for SeeD. So maybe she gets it from me."

Seifer grinned, looking back out the window. "Oh, so then your genes are to blame."

Quistis lifted her head in a mocking frown and lightly hit her husband on the shoulder. "Hey, that's mean..."

Seifer chuckled in amusement until he noticed the fields outside beginning to move in the opposite direction of the wind. Quistis, recognizing the look in his eyes, stared at him worriedly.

"...Seifer?" she asked. 

He didn't hear her, though, and stood up. "Where's my gunblade, Quisty?"

Quistis observed her husband stride through the living room. "It's upstairs in our room...but why do you need it?"

Seifer paused for a minute at the stairway, turning back to his wife. "I want to find out what those freakin' _things_ outside are."

?? ~ Raine's bar

"What?!? You mean they know we're here??" Sakura Wolfe exclaimed.

Yukie winced at her friend's outcry, putting a finger on her own lips. "Sshh, don't be so loud. Do you want everyone to hear?"

Even though Alex had warned her to not tell anybody about the feline shadows lurking around, Yukie always ignored his instructions unless it was necessary. However, she was beginning to regret ignoring her knight's instructions at Sakura's outburst.

Sakura clamped her mouth shut and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I forgot."

Yukie sighed, shaking her head. Now she was REALLY regretting ignoring her warning. However, she was forgivable person. "It's okay."

"So what are we going to do?" Sakura asked. "Just wait for them to attack?"

"That's pretty much what Alex had in mind," Yukie replied, brushing back a stray strand of hair. "Although he did say to me and Sion that he was going to check out to see if his mom, dad, and sisters are okay."

Sakura pouted in disappointment, wanting to rid of her good bartender facade and kick some butt. "Well, I guess..."

"Listen, Sakura, don't tell Lily or Kenji about this, okay?" Yukie pleaded. "They haven't acted yet, so it's no use warning them when they haven't done anything."

Sakura nodded as reluctantly as Sion did and groaned to herself when her name was called out from the restaurant.

outskirts of Winhill

A howling scream echoed in the fields as Alex calmly watched the creature's writing form cease to move. Dark vials of liquid spilled out of its body, staining the earth. Taking one last look at the feline shadow to make sure that it was dead, Alex put away his gun and released the grip of his gunblade; it blended back into its surroundings.

"That was tougher than I though," he murmured to himself.

In his mind, Griever growled in agreement. **They are not your typical shadows. These are not the creatures found in Centra.**

"They've been made," Alex nodded in agreement. "They've been made by those two, whoever they are."

Steam rose from the corpse's body as it sunk back down to the earth. Alex gazed back at it again, prepared to attack, but Griever reassured him. **Cats are only known to have nine lives. The creature's dead.**

"You should've told me that sooner, old man," Alex muttered as he again put away his weapons. His sensitive ears, though, heard the sounds of footsteps running through the tall grass.

He swiftly turned around, prepared for another assault, but the grip on his gun relaxed as he saw his mother dragging his sisters along. Alex stood still, frantically thinking of a way out, but decided at the last moment that vanishing from sight now would make no difference especially when his sisters were there.

Brushing away the thought of physical similarities to his father, Alex calmly asked Rinoa, "Is there something wrong, ma'am?"

Rinoa stopped before him, carrying baby Sakura in her arms and paused to get some fresh air. She then looked at him; her mind was registering how similar the young man before her looked like her husband, but she didn't let the thought sink in.

"Oh thank Hyne you're here! I thought that I'd have to go to Dollet and find someone! These...these _things_ have been attacking my home and we can't even see them! Can you help us, sir?" she rapidly explained.

"Yeah, yeah, pwease Mr. Shion?" Luna and Phoenix asked him, using the name he had given them.

"Uh...I...." Alex began to say, but his senses was warning him that there was something nearby. At the last second, he saw two red eyes gleaming against the sunlight. "Look out!"

He pushed Rinoa and his sisters out of the way just before the shadow's claws could reach them. Instead of slashing through its intended target, its claws tore through Alex's trenchcoat, barely nicking his shoulder.

"Damn," he cursed to himself as he rolled into a crouching position in front of his mother and three sisters. His right hand was poised to grab his gun.

Rinoa sat there, speechless, as she and her daughters watched the young man before them battle the invisible creature with crisp, concise movements that seemed inhumanly possible. And within two minutes the creature was dead, revealing itself to be a black shadow. She covered the twins' ears and eyes so that they wouldn't see nor hear the awful creature meet its death. Sakura, now wide awake, wailed from being awaken from her sleep. Alex walked over to the feline shadow's body and calmly fired his Exeter once more before the creature ceased to move. He saw Rinoa flinch as he fired and slowly walked over to her, hooking his gun back in the holster.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked softly.

Rinoa looked up at him, able to get a closer look at his face. Slowly, she began to put her memory puzzle pieces together. "I...know you from somewhere..."

Alex, surprised, blinked a few times before turning back to look at the feline shadow's body. "We'd better go back home."

"Why?" Luna asked, finally peeking her head out. "The monster person's not dead yet?"

Alex smiled sadly at them. "Sorry, Luna, but cats have nine lives."

"I dun like cats," Phoenix murmured.

He gently helped Rinoa and the others up and again looked back at the shadow. He could see that it was beginning to move again. "I'll take you back to where Lily lives and then go back home to see if I can help the others."

He quickly led them away from the site, leading them back to town and letting Rinoa alone with her thoughts. As Luna and Phoenix skipped alongside Alex, she began to remember about a young boy who disappeared back to the future five years ago. The young boy withstood everything: the loss of his two elder sisters, the return of his dearest sister, the defeat of Ultimecia, the loss of usage in his left eye. That young boy walked before her now. He was no longer a boy. Her son before her was now a young man; Alexander Leonhart.

AUTHORESS NOTES: Da! Hoped you enjoyed it! R&R!


	6. The Reunion

AN: Yeah, another chapter! Hehe, came a _little _bit faster than the last one, ne? Well, see the problem is with me I'm writing at least five other fics along with this one. What I do is I write in say two chapters for one then switch to another fic and write two chapters of that one until eventually I type them all out at once and then post them. That's why it takes me such a long time to update ^^. Anyhoo, hope you like this chapter and R&R!

P.S. Yeah, Eria, I didn't expect to write out how Alex was found out like that, either, but well *shrugs* it turned out that way ^^.

Chapter Five ~ The Reunion

"He's late," Yukie murmured to herself as she locked the door to the restaurant. Her words weren't meant to be heard, but Sakura looked up from her stack of dishes that she was putting away.

"Huh? Who's late, Yukie?" she asked her Estharian friends.

Yukie turned around, startled from her thoughts. "Huh? Oh...it's...it's nothing, really."

She headed out the back door, a deep foreboding creeping in her heart. "I'm going to go see if Alex came back, okay? Just remember to lock the back when you're done."

Sakura mumbled an incoherent response as she returned to her work, half of her body inside the cupboards on the bottom. Yukie giggled at the sight as she shut the door behind her.

Taking in a deep breath of fresh air to calm her worries, Yukie strolled about the remnants of the bar's gardens. From the rumors that she had heard, Raine Leonhart-Loire loved white lilies and planted them in the back of her bar. With her skills in gardening, the few seeds she had planted changed into a beautiful garden full of different kinds of flowers. Visitors and customers alike had often stopped by her bar just to see them. Now, only half of those flowers remained due to the decades of neglect. If it wasn't for Rinoa's intervention, the garden would just become a wasteland of dead branches and brush.

Yukie, remembering the stories she had heard, knelt down beside a withering rose. She wrapped her hands around it, whispering in an archaic language that only the Guardian Forces and few people she knew would understand. A gentle blue aura surrounded the withering flower, and it slowly regenerated itself into what it once was. When Yukie stopped, the red rose stood tall, showing off its color and beauty. She smiled to herself, admiring the flower's beauty.

"You seem to have control of your powers now, Yukie," said a voice behind her.

She froze; a chill of horror shot down through her spine. Slowly, hesitantly, Yukie turned around to face the eyes of her formally dead cousin.

Raine's Bar ~ inside

Sakura finished stacking away the last of the dishes, wiping the sweat off of her brow. 

"Next time, I'm not going to listen to Iris," she muttered to herself.

Iris was one of the three new waitresses at the bar. She was the younger sister of a friend that Rinoa knew in Timber. Sakura had at first liked the other woman, but when Iris began to show her true colors, the two had become bitter rivals. She was the one who made Sakura into one of the most desired waitress and bartender, which Sakura despised. She hated being in the spotlight, especially when surrounded by a group of drunken men.

Shaking off bad memories, Sakura grabbed her set of keys to the restaurant and left.

"What did Yukie say to me before she left?" she asked herself, locking the door. "I remember it was something about Alex..."

She had just turned around when an Ultima spell hit her square in the chest, sending her body slamming back into the metallic door. She heard someone scream as a red haze covered her eyes. The last thing before Sakura Wolfe fell to unconsciousness was Yukie being held back by a man with light blue hair and piercing red eyes, disappearing in a grey mist.

Winhill ~ entrance

The trip back to town was mostly in silence. The twins had chatted a little but they had stopped as soon as they saw yet another chocobo corpse along the road. Rinoa had tried to cover their eyes, but they refused and continued walking. Even the three month old Sakura remained quiet sleeping. Alex desperately wanted to make conversation but was afraid that he would slip. So, he too walked in silence beside his mother. The look that she kept on giving him was nerve wracking, as if she KNEW that he was the same person she had met five years before as a young boy.

_But she can't can she? Is Mom's memory that good? _he mentally asked himself.

In his head, Griever decided to not answer.

As they walked through the town, Alex ignored the stares and whispers of the locals while Rinoa and her daughters politely greeted them. Alex knew what the topic of the minute was: him. He calmly glanced back at each person who passed by, and they quickly turned away. Inwardly, he sighed. _Geez, why does everyone have to look at me like I'm a freak?_

"...Mister Triest, where exactly are you taking us?" Rinoa finally asked to break the silence.

_Good question, _he thought. "Uh...I guess to Lily's home. If you tell her what's going on, she'll definitely help out." _Oh, man, Lily's going to KILL me for this!_

"Why?" Phoenix suddenly asked.

Rinoa looked at her daughter in surprise. "Why what, Phoe?"

Alex scratched the back of his head, looking at the ground in embarrassment.

**You forgot that they can hear you, **Griever replied.

_No it just slipped my mind, old man, _Alex growled back sarcastically.

Phoenix gazed up at her mother as if she didn't know. "Mister Treist sed dat Miss Lily is goin' to kill him fer something."

"He did?" Rinoa asked incredulously. "How do you know, hon?"

Luna nodded in agreement with her twin. "He just said so, Mommy."

"And he said---" Phoenix was about to say when she was cut off by Alex's rather nervous laughter. 

"Ah, kids, they make up so much stuff, don't they, Mo--er, Mrs. Leonhart?" Alex asked, giving a look at his sisters.

Rinoa smiled despite the worry of her husband and their friends. "I guess. Say, how do you know Lily?"

That was a question that he couldn't answer quickly enough. "Um..."

The scent of blood reached his nostrils. His head sharply turned at the direction it was coming from. Rinoa cocked her head curiously as Sakura woke up in her arms. "What's wrong?"

"I smell blood," he replied absentmindedly, walking towards Raine's bar.

"But wait a minute, I don't smell anything," Rinoa said as she and her daughters followed him.

They turned a corner to find Sakura Wolfe lying in a pool of her own blood. Rinoa gasped at the sigh, covering Luna and Phoenix's eyes, as Alex ran towards her limp body, carefully lifting her head. He instinctively cast a Life spell, and his friend's eyes slowly fluttered open, looking around in a dazed manner and blinking away the blood that had covered her face. She slowly turned her head to look at him.

"Ugh...Alex?" she whispered.

"Sh, don't speak," he said to her, brushing away the blood with his gloved hand. His mind was screaming for him to cast Curaga on her, but he simply refused the temptation knowing that she was took weak to handle the impact of the spell.

"Who did this to you?"

Rinoa looked on from a distance, her head snapping up at hearing Alex's name. Too absorbed in watching, the twins peeked out between the cracks of her fingers to see what was going on.

Sakura still stared at Alex, swallowing in a gulp of fresh air. She slowly shook her head, closing her eyes. "I...I don't know. Some...some guy with blue hair...and red eyes. Alex, he had really red eyes..."

Alex slowly let the description sink into his head. It sounded familiar to him, but he wasn't quite sure where to place it. Then he realized that someone was missing.

"Where's Yukie, Sakura?" he demanded.

"That...that guy took her with him," she replied in a soft whisper.

"Dammit," he cursed under his breath. "Think you can stand?"

"I'll...try."

Alex gently lifted his best friend up, slinging her arm across her shoulders. He looked at Rinoa, seeing in her eyes that she knew the truth. "Mom, can you take Sakura back to Lily's?"

She, surprised, dumbfoundedly nodded and walked over to them. She slowly let Sakura lean on her as Alex let go. She then looked at her twin daughters, signaling them to follow her.

"Why are you all here?" she asked Alex.

"Later...explain..." Sakura murmured.

"Yeah, we'll explain it to you later," Alex repeated. "I'm going back home and help Dad and the others, so be careful."

Rinoa nodded as he sprinted back from where they came. "Oh, and Alex!"

He skidded to a stop, turning around. She smiled at him, "You've grown into a handsome young man."

Alex blinked in confusion for a few seconds then grinned. "Hey, it runs in the family."

Leonhart home

"Dammit, why won't these freakin' things just DIE?!?" Seifer yelled in frustration as he hacked down another shadow.

"Why don't you ask them?" Squall calmly replied as he battled against one shadow.

"Hahaha, since when did you have a sense of humor, Leonhart?" Seifer sarcastically retorted back.

The two men were slowly getting pushed back to Squall's home. They didn't know that the shadows had to be killed ten times for there were too many attacking them all at once. Even if one had died, they were too preoccupied to notice. 

"Don't this remind you of the time when you an' me were in Centra?" Seifer asked as he took off the head of one. Unfortunately for him, the fallen head had grown back. He cursed to himself.

"What, when we were attacked by those herd of Bombs?" Squall asked, wincing in pain as one shadow managed to dig its nails into his right shoulder. He quickly sliced the Lionheart through its throat and it fell off him. "Oh yeah, I remember that. You kept on tossing them to me."

"Hey, didn't want to hog all the fun, Leonhart," Seifer replied, grinning.

"Whatever," Squall said. "And why are we talking about this?"

"Just to lighten up the mood, man."

"You're starting to sound like Zell."

Both men stopped, their backs pressed against the stone wall of the home. They were both out of breath and tired, not used to the heavy fighting since leaving Garden.

"Now...what?" Seifer asked, panting heavily.

"You...tell me," Squall muttered in reply.

"Hope...they're safe."

"Yeah..."

They lowered their gunblades in surrender as the shadows crept closer. Squall gave a sideways glance at his friend.

"...Ready?"

"Ready for anything, PB."

Before they could move, a voice yelled, "Don't you even THINK of giving in!"

A gust of wind swept through, sending five shadows flying off from the ground. Some had landed on their heads, the sickening crunch of necks being broken echoed in the still air. Others were smashed into the ground, dark violet blood seeping out of their sudden bullet wounds. All in all, this had distracted the feline shadows' attention from their previous prey and frantically searched for their intruder. Squall and Seifer blinked in confusion, wondering what in Hyne's name had changed the tide. Finally they saw their savior reappearing in the middle of the feline shadows, shooting down two more. A young man around seventeen with jet black hair and a jagged scar over his left eye calmly stared back at the shadows as they began circling him. He raised his Exeter in deadly fashion as a warning to them. Squall squinted his eyes to see the young man's face, but he was too far to see clearly. Both men had lowered their gunblades, releasing the grip on the trigger. 

"That kid's crazy," Seifer said. "What the hell is he doing?"

Squall felt as if he was being tugged. He glanced down at his hand where the Griever ring was and then back at the young man. He frowned at the sense of familiarity the young man emanated.

"Wait, Seifer," Squall said in a calm voice. "I know this may sound crazy, but just watch."

"Wha--"

"Trust me. Watch."

Alex stared coldly at each of the shadows that surrounded him as they hissed in anger. His good eye had changed to a dark amber.

"Don't mess with them," he growled, his free hand reaching over his shoulder. The shadows continued to hiss as he slowly reached for the hilt of his gunblade. "Mess with them, you mess with me."

In one quick flash, he gripped onto the hilt of his gunblade. It appeared at his touch, and he brought it down on the first shadow in front of him. It screeched in pain as it fell to the ground, giving a signal to the others to attack. They pounced upon his body, only to crash into one another. Alex had jumped, letting the gunblade guide him to the shadows' vulnerable points. He attacked left and right with the weapon, firing his Exeter at the same time. His reflexes were fifty times quicker than the normal human, letting him reload his gun at the same time as he swung his gunblade. When a pack of thirty or so shadows tried to attack him from behind, he quickly cast a Flare spell on them and sent them to their deaths. The shadows' sounds were a mixture of fear, death, and anger all at once, creating a chilling symphony of the battle at hand. Alex let his basic instinct settle in, turning him into the demon that had given him the feared name Shion Triest.

The two men watched Alex fight, awed by his deadly accuracy and perception.

"He's good," Seifer managed to utter.

"You're right," Squall added, eyes narrowing in suspicion. _His attacks are familiar...where are they from?_

"He fights like you, too, only more so," Seifer commented.

Squall snapped his head up in surprise. "What?"

Seifer gestured his head at the fight. "That kid's fighting style reminds me of you when you're executing the Lionheart. Or when you're really pissed off. Ever noticed that?"

Slowly, Squall nodded. "Yeah..."

Alex, unaware of the two older men's suspicions, continued his deadly dance until each and every shadow was dead. Their corpses slowly melted into the earth in a violet mist. He breathed a sigh of relief, releasing the grip of his gunblade as it in turn faded into the surroundings. Hooking his gun back in its holster, he turned around to look at the two men behind him with a relieved smile on his face.

"You guys okay?" he asked.

Seifer rotated his shoulder while Squall put away his gunblade, he replied, "Nothing that a potion can't heal."

Alex nodded and approached the two older men, unafraid. He was well aware that they didn't know who he was and he wanted to keep it that way until the time was right.

"The name's Shion," he greeted them in a friendly manner, his other name second nature to him. "Shion Triest. Mrs. Leonhart ran into me when I was making a stop to town and asked me to see if I can help you guys out."

Squall's eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion again, but he quickly brushed the nagging feeling off. "Are they okay?"

"Did you see a woman with blond hair, a little munchkin that looks exactly like her, and a man that looks like this guy over here with them?" Seifer added.

Alex shrugged, not sure how to answer. "I...uh...well..."

Before he could answer a complete sentence, Alex felt a strong aura above him. His head snapped up towards the sky, eye flickering in between colors. The other two, noticing their stranger's sudden reaction, looked around curiously as the hairs behind their necks began to rise. A strong gust of cold wind swept through the prairie; something that was rather unusual in the area of Winhill. Soon afterward, mocking laughter echoed in the sky as the winds became stronger, the skies darker, and the once lush green grass whiter.

"What the hell?" Seifer muttered, clenching his teeth tightly together as the wind bit into his bare arms. "What is this??"

"I don't know.." Squall murmured back.

Unknown to the two former rivals, Alex's eye was darting back and forth like a kitten trying to focus on its mock prey. He knew the sound of that laughter from anywhere even though it had been a hectic year past when Yukie had been first placed under his care.

"For Hyne's sake, why can't you just stay DEAD?!?" he shouted at the top of his lungs at the winds.

"Oh, staying dead won't be fun tormenting your little circle," the laughing voice taunted. "And you can't hide your name forever, Alexander Leonhart."

Lily's home

"He _WHAT_?!?" 

Rinoa flinched at the sound of Kirean's voice as she fed Sakura in the guest room of Laguna's old home. It had been an hour since she, Quistis, Laguna, and the children arrive in the home that was occupied by inhabitants who weren't supposed to exist as adults until twenty years from now. It had been a few minutes ago since Sion told the others about the appearance of their enemies. Kenji had taken the news in mutual understanding; Lily took out her anger by "accidentally" breaking the coffee table while Kirean shouted in frustration. In other words, their reactions were normal for them.

"Man, why can't he shut his big mouth?" Sakura Wolfe groaned about her brother's outburst, rolling over to one side.

Rinoa suppressed a giggle as a wave of relief swept through her thoughts, glad that the teenager was still alive. Quistis, who was sitting next to Sakura on the other side of the bed with a child Lily sleeping in her arms, smiled. Luna and Phoenix had also fallen asleep in between, exhausted from the stress and fear of the day.

"Feeling better, Sakura?" Quistis asked in a soft voice so as to not wake up the children.

Rinoa remained silent as she lifted her baby daughter, patting her on the back gently. Sakura Wolfe slowly rolled back to her original position with a hand over her eyes.

"I feel like I've been hit by a truck going on a rampage in Deling," she mumbled. "...Maybe getting slammed into a door makes you feel that way."

She slowly sat up, not realizing that Luna was holding onto the belt loop of her jeans. The teenager heard a tiny yawn from the two year old and froze, biting her lower lip.

Rinoa smiled in mild amusement as she began to hook back on her bra from breast feeding with one hand. "It's okay, Sakura. Those two have had a long day, so they won't wake up for a while."

Sakura nodded with relief and gently pried off Luna's fingers from her belt and got out of bed. She stood still for a moment as a wave of dizziness washed through.

"You lost a lot of blood," Quistis explained. "Personally, I'm surprised you're awake and able to stand."

Sakura managed a small smile and shrugged. "I guess you can say that I'm used to it." She looked around the room as if something or someone was missing. "Where's Laguna?"

"Laguna's resting upstairs, recovering from his wounds," Rinoa answered and closed her eyes as she remembered what her father-in-law looked like when she and her daughters first entered in the home with Sakura. "He hasn't woken up yet, though."

"Oh," Sakura merely responded, unable to think of what to say. Then, a bit hesitantly, she asked, "Is he okay?"

"For the most part, yes," Rinoa replied. "None of his vitals were touched, and Kenji was able to heal him a bit before I came in."

It was Quistis' turn to remain silent, gently stroking her daughter's honey-blonde hair. As they had gotten separated at home, Laguna had taken the responsibility of taking care of his daughter-in-law and granddaughters while getting injured in the process. It was Quistis who carried the older man with her after he had covered for Rinoa's escape as the shadows continued to pursue them. She wondered to herself how her husband was doing. Then a thought came to her.

"You know, Sakura," she asked. Sakura turned around with a questioning look on her face, "how come Lily doesn't look at me?"

Sakura thought for a moment. "...I don't know. I'm not sure how Lily's past really goes 'cuz she doesn't really like to talk about it."

"Does she hate me?"

"Now, I was only half conscious when I came in, so I didn't really get what was going on at the time, but I don't think that Lily hates you," Sakura reassured her. Then she shrugged. "But that's what you get from me. You'd have to ask Alex's sister or Kenji."

"...How are they doing, by the way?"

Sakura sighed, slumping back down on the bed as she looked out of the window. "A lot has happened, Quistis. I don't know where to start. I guess you can say for the most part that everybody's okay. Kenji's a lot quieter than how he used to be, Lily's preoccupied with her job most of the time, Sakura's...well...I guess you can say that she's having a sorta normal life, and Alex is just Alex."

Deciding to change the subject, she stood up and walked towards the window. "He hasn't come back yet, has he?"

Knowing who the teenager was referring to, Rinoa sullenly shook her head. "No...it's been over two hours now."

Sakura put on her best smile as she turned around. "Don't worry. Alex always keeps his word."

Leonhart home

Alex growled in anger and frustration as he continued to follow the laughter, not caring that his real name had been revealed. He was so tempted to release his gunblade and let it find the source of the chaos. However, Griever strictly ordered him not to do so.

**Alceste has a mind of its own, **he explained. **If you release them from your hold too often, they will break out of your hold and become uncontrollable to any other human that touches it.**

This explanation made Alex even more frustrated than before. He carefully sifted through his memory bank for a spell that would be safe for the two men behind him to handle but would also be powerful enough to knock out his opponent. The other man had apparently read his thoughts and chuckled sinisterly at him.

"Now, I wouldn't do that if I were you," the man said as his voice remained in one area. "You wouldn't want to hurt our little guest, would you?"

A smoky grey mist swirled around a figure who stood on the roof of the home. The mist faded to reveal a man who was slightly older than Alex with hair that was a tad shade darker than Yukie's. He had pale, ghostlike features that stood out under dark clothing. Yet what had frightened Squall and Seifer the most were the man's eyes. They were a deep blood-like crimson without any pupils, eyes that were common with those of the undead. He was grinning maliciously, and Yukie was in his capture. Her aqua blue eyes widened in surprise as she struggled against her cousin's deathlike grip.

"Yukie," Squall heard Alex murmur. He turned to look at him, wondering what the young woman held captive meant to his newly discovered son.

"I thought you'd be more careful than to let my cousin wander by herself, Alex," the man continued as he held his grip.

"Let her go, Suguru," Alex said in a calm yet demanding voice. "She's got nothing to do with this."

"Oh, no, you're wrong, Alex," Suguru replied. "My dear cousin has anything and everything to do with this." His red eyes gleamed in delight. "Now who will you choose, Alex?" He slid out a poison dart shuriken from his sleeve and pressed it against Yukie's jugular. "Yourself or your dear summoner?"

Before Alex could figure out what the other man was talking about, the sensation of pain struck his entire body like fire. He struggled to fight against it and fell to one knee, straining his head around to see both Squall and Seifer engulfed by two shadows with their bodies barely transparent inside.

"Alex, don't worry about me!" Yukie shouted in desperation. "Save yourself!"

Suguru roughly pulled her back, smiling. "You better decide fast, Leonhart, because my pets aren't very patient in your thoughts."

"Shit," Alex cursed to himself as another wave of pain overwhelmed him, sending him to both knees. He could only imagine what hell his father and "uncle" were going through. His vision began to blur. _I can't! C'mon, Dad, stay with me!_

Esthar ~ five years in the future

After her first incident of disappearing, Sakura Leonhart once again dropped her knife, clutching her head in pain. Gene rushed over to her, grabbing her shoulders tightly as she sunk down to the floor.

"Sakura? Sakura!" Gene shouted at her. "C'mon, hang in there!"

Sakura shook her head vigorously as she struggled with the pain pinching her nerves. "...Alex...Dad..."

Holding her close to him, Gene leaned in closer as he heard her words. "What?"

"Alex...and Dad," Sakura muttered. A white aura began to surround her body. "They're...they're in trouble."

Leonhart home ~ five years in the past

**Alex...**

_...Huh?_

**Alex, wake up!**

Alex opened his eye suddenly and looked around for the sound of the voice. All around him, time had stopped. He stared back at his own body, which was still how he thought he was only a few minutes ago. "What the?"

He was about to reenter his body when his sister's voice stopped him. **Alex!**

He quickly turned around to face Luna as he always had seen her. It looked as if she had never died. "Sis?!? What are you doing here?"

Luna Leonhart stared back at her brother with a calm look in her eyes. **Call Griever.**

"What?"

She frowned at him. **Don't ask why, stupid! Do you want to die? What do you think Yukie's going to do if you're dead?!?**

"I..."

**Call on Griever. He'll be able to help you.**

Time resumed in a flash, but Alex no longer felt pain. He let himself succumb to his sorcerer abilities, concentrating on his ancestor within him.

"Shockwave Pulsar!"

In mere seconds, the devil-like lion appeared at its descendant's command, gathering up the fallen pieces in a blinding white light. Then everything became dark.

AN: Ow, my hands hurt from typing. Maybe that's why I get so many typos when I type too fast ^^;;;


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